Karla Saur

About

My main research focus is optimizing cloud infrastructure for database and machine learning workloads. I thrive on exploring innovative solutions that enhance scalability, efficiency, and reliability, particularly in containerized and serverless systems.  I especially enjoy working with Kubernetes and distributed data systems. Additionally, I’m the maintainer and co-creator of Microsoft Hummingbird. (opens in new tab)

Before joining Gray Systems Labs in 2019, I worked on the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) team at Microsoft, and at Intel Labs as a research scientist. Prior to my PhD, I worked in the information security field in the Maryland/DC area.

My PhD (University of Maryland, 2015) was about Dynamic Upgrades for High Availability Systems. My dream was (and is!) to eliminate all downtime in running systems.